Where's Shikamaru?
by Hyuchiha Ruki
Summary: Shikamaru's missing. Where is he? He was supposed to be at the Yamanaka's house and he was supposed to STAY there! Where has did he go? And he's with Ino! One-shot. Dedicated to Shikamaru'sCrazyLoudEmoMaiomi. R&R please.


**Oh goody! Another ShikaIno One-shot! Haha! Yes, my summer's getting boring. It's okay. I have lots of time to write that way.**

**I thought of this randomly as I finished yet another bag of potato chips.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Note: Is Shikamaru's father's name Shikato? I'm not quite sure. Anyway, I'll be using Shikato here so if it's not the right name, tell me through a review or something and I'll edit it immediately. And yes, I don't know the name of Shika's mom. My bad. I'm also not sure if it's really Chouza and Inoichi, too.**

**Note Again: Shikamaru, Ino and Choji are about five years old or so…?**

**This is dedicated to Shikamaru'sCrazyLoudEmoMaiomi formerly known as MaiomiLovesShikamaru. She gave me a lot of support and she makes one of the funniest crack fan fics! I hope you like this, Maiomi!**

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A little worried, Shikamaru's mother glanced at the nearest clock then walked to her pot of casserole, sitting on the stove. She lifted the cover then took some of the casserole to her mouth with her wooden spoon.

After a smack of her lips, she shrugged then added three dashes of salt. The house began to smell of the food she was cooking and since her husband and her son weren't home, there was just the singing of the teapot and the bubbling of the soup.

"Where are those two?" the woman asked herself, cautiously replacing the lid, "Dinner's in five minutes."

She still held her wooden spoon with one hand then placed her hands on her hips. She continuously tapped her foot on the kitchen's tiled floor, eyeing the front door.

Donning an irritated look, she glared at the front door. Of course, there was nothing at first but (as if on her cue) soon, there was a simple click from the door's knob and a long creak.

Her expression didn't soften despite the fact that her husband was finally home.

"Where were you?" she demandingly asked, "You said you'd be home by 5. It's almost 7 o'clock."

Shikato dropped the house keys he had onto the coffee table facing the couch in the living room. "The Hokage asked for my presence. He wanted to talk about something. It's petty, really."

Not even a slight change happened to her face. Her scowl still looked annoyed and her eyes still seemed to pierce through him.

"I'm telling the truth." Shikato tried to get her to believe him. Something told him she didn't… but that wasn't the case.

"Where's Shikamaru?" His wife snapped, completely anxious yet still serious.

Shikato arched a brow then shrugged, "Probably playing with his friends…"

With that passive reply, her eyes grew then she shrieked, "What? You don't know where he is? Shikato!"

"How are we supposed to know?" Shikato replied, almost surprised at his wife's reaction, "It's not like our kid has a tracking device!"

She tugged onto her hair once then she snapped again, pointing the wooden spoon at him, "You were supposed to pick him up from the Yamanakas! Did you forget?"

"He wasn't there." It was all Shikato could answer to her question. And of course, being the protective mother she is, Shikamaru's mom totally went hysterical.

"WASN'T THERE? Did you really pass by?" She wanted, no, demanded him to tell the truth.

Shikato, still looking calm, answered honestly, "Yes. What do you take me for? I think of our boy, too, you know."

As if her world was going to shatter, Shikamaru's mother briskly went to the phone then dialed the Yamanaka's number. The ringing on her ear was increasing and when she heard the eleventh ring, someone picked the other end up.

"Hello, Good Evening. This is the Yamanaka Flower; how may I help you?"

"Inoichi? Where's Shikamaru?" Shikamaru's mother frantically asked, "Is he there?"

Recognizing the voice on the other end, Inoichi replied, "Oh, he's not. He was here the whole afternoon since Shikato dropped him here to play with Ino and Choji. They went out to…"

"HOW COULD YOU LET THEM LEAVE THE SHOP WITHOUT AN ADULT?" The woman screamed on the phone, "THEY'RE JUST FIVE YEARS OLD!"

Inoichi flinched at the booming tone then answered, "Chouza was with them. He arrived to pick Choji up. Shikamaru and Ino decided to play some more over at the Akimichi's. I'll be picking Ino up in a few minutes, though." Surprisingly, he wasn't worrying about where Ino could be.

Without a goodbye, the worried-sick mother hung up then picked up the phone again after a few seconds. Soon, she was dialing Chouza's home number.

Watching his wife panic, Shikato kept on rolling his eyes at her panic-stricken actions. He just stood at the door, looking at her the whole time.

"Hello, Chouza?" Shikamaru's mother said as she talked on her end of the line, "Is Shikamaru there? He's not? Ino's not there, too? What?"

But upon hearing this, Shikato's brows rose then he managed to walk towards his wife.

"They said they'd walk home? AND YOU LET THEM? Chouza! What do you mean there's nothing to worry about?" The rants went on and on until there was a feeble knock on the door.

The couple exchanged glances immediately. Both stood silent and soon, Shikamaru's mother placed the phone down and rushed to answer the door.

Briskly walking to the front door, she then grabbed the knob and swung it open. And there, she found her son and his friend, safe and sound.

"Shikamaru!" she screamed, scooping her son into her arms. She hugged him tight as Shikato entered the scene, giving his son a gentle scratch on the head.

"I was so worried about you…" Shikamaru could tell that his mom was worried about him so he replied in his baby voice, "I'm fine, mommy…"

When his parents had put him down, he neared his friend, Ino, then took her by the hand.

"Mommy, Daddy," he began with a toothy smile, "This is Ino. She's really nice. When we're big already, me and her are gonna get married."

The two parents stared back at the two children on their porch, jaws down.

'What the…?' Shikato thought in his head, 'How'd this get into my son's head?'

Ino giggled then added, "Then we'll be all one big family, right?"

Shikamaru's mother found herself stuttering in gibberish as she gazed back at Shikamaru, almost in horror.

"That way," Ino started again, "You won't have to worry about where we are. We'll just live in one big house and be together, right, Shikawaru?"

"It's Shikamaru!" the little boy beside her corrected.

She just innocently blinked back at him then went back to saying, "Oh! Shikamamu!"

"Shikamaru!"

"Stickamaru?"

"Shikamaru!"

"Shikikaru?"

"Shi-ka-ma-ru!"

"Oh! Shi-ka-nga-pu!"

Out of frustration, Shikamaru gave up teaching his friend the right way of saying his name. But then, she asked simply,

"Can I just call you Shika?"

Rolling his eyes, Shikamaru muttered, "Okay, okay… only you will use that, anyway…"

The exchange of odd names put a smile on Shikamaru's parents' faces. His mother managed to snicker before saying, "I'll go call Inoichi to pick Ino up." She patted her son's head then entered the house.

Shikato watched her walk off before kneeling to the two children asking, "So, how many children do you and Ino plan to have?"

There was a teasing tone in the question but Ino and Shikamaru were… well, too young to understand that.

Ino hugged Shikamaru tight then lovingly squealed, "A lot!" With that, Shikamaru flinched then muttered something under his breath.

The father laughed then invited, "Come in, Ino. As someone who'll one day be a part of the Nara family, you should be able to taste our casserole."

And with that, the two kids went into the house, still hand in hand.

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**I wasn't able to put my all in this, I admit. I'll understand if you didn't like it that much. Reviews please.**


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